More New Friends, A New Roof, and Conch Fritters!!!!!

Last month's Bahamas Habitat Fly In & Help Out Event was another huge success.   Most folks met up at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) for lunch and then the mass departure for the Bahamas began!  Over 30 pilots and passengers in 8+ planes made the trip to serve the great people of Eleuthera, Bahamas.  The itinerary was the same as it had been for previous events.

This time I had two friends from church join me.  Both of them had never been in a small plane before, but that didn't damper their excitement.  A little over 2 hours after leaving Orlando, we were the first plane to touch down in Governor's Harbour (MYEM), Eleuthera.  We had loaded up the plane with various supplies that had been waiting to be delivered to the camp which almost turned into a little bit of an ordeal.  The customs officer, freshly transferred from Nassau, was very keen to ALL the boxes we had brought with us.  Luckily you are allowed a $100 exemption per person from import duties so we managed to write up an agreed upon manifest and kept it below that mark!

Odyssey Aviation, the local FBO at the airport, was gracious enough to meet all the pilots and crews with catered finger foods, drinks and gift bags for everyone upon arrival.  They also were generous to donate $3500 to the Zion's Children's Home on Current Island; a project hugely supported by the Bahamas Habitat.  So if you find yourself in the Bahamas and in need of FBO services, please give your patronage to Odyssey Aviation to show your thanks for their support of their communities.

This trip, we worked in the settlement of South Palmetto Point.  We served a nice older gentleman and his aunt as we repaid her roof, demolished the crumbling half of his house, and finished putting on a new roof on the remaining front half of his home.  We did this over two days and it's amazing what can be accomplished by so many in just a short time.

After working the 2nd day, a group of us headed for the airport for a little island hopping.  I let John and Doug take turns flying the plane and they did very well.  After a quick turn at North Eleuthera to load the fuel we needed to get home, we flew towards the Exuma Islands chain and stopped at Staniel Cay and walked to the yacht club for lunch.  Unlike last February, the power was on!  So we enjoyed a fabulous lunch and of course the obligatory conch fritters!

Sunday's flight home was none eventful.  The weather was perfect, clearing customs in Ft Pierce was painless as usual, and we were home in Jacksonville by early afternoon.  It was an amazing four days and I truly enjoyed see some familiar faces, making new friends, and sharing this experience with Doug and John.  The main conversation we had when we got home was,"When are we going back?"  Soon I hope!  The next event will be February 20- 23, 2014.  Mark you calendars and join us!

Here is a slide show of our photos.  It also includes some GoPro video while flying low along the beautiful islands of Exuma.

Praying For The People Of The Bahamas

Hurricane Irene has already caused widespread damage to the Southeastern and Central Bahamas. It looks like the eye may have passed right over North Eleuthera this morning and is targeting The Abacos today. The predicted track puts Irene right over Marsh Harbor and Great Guana Cay. This would put the eye just to the east of Treasure Cay, but I'm afraid not far enough east to limit the effects.

We had actually started to make inquires to go back to Treasure Cay for the upcoming Labor Day weekend prior to Irene forming way out in the Atlantic. We might still go depending on the aftermath of today's events. Anyway, we are praying for all the wonderful people of the Bahamas. Sidney, we hope to see you very soon! Stay safe.

Today's midday satellite image overlaid with our normal flight path to Treasure Cay:

Staniel Cay, Bahamas - The Flight Home

We both got a great night's sleep and woke up around 7:30 am. After we took showers and had our morning coffee on the deck, we headed to the clubhouse for some breakfast. We realized that of all the pictures we had taken, we never got both of us in them at the same time. So we imposed on a few folks to help us right that wrong. Breakfast was great as usual, but I just wasn't very hungry. We checked out and settled up our account at the bar and got our bags ready to go. One huge benefit to flying yourself is only being held to your own schedule. Not having to feel rushed to get to the airport or anything else sure helps to alleviate a lot of stress. Leaving the Staniel Cay Yacht Club was tough, but we have to leave in order to come back!



It didn't take long to load and pre-flight the plane. We were wheels up shortly after 10:00 am. Some remnant clouds from the front made for a low overcast layer for about 40 miles, but we had another nice ride and a beautiful flight over the Exumas as we headed back for North Eleuthera (MYEH). We touched down at MYEH about 45 minutes after leaving Staniel Cay (MYES).








White Crown Aviation, the FBO at MYEH, made our departure from the islands a breeze. After submitting our Immigration Cards, Passports, General Declaration Form C7, Cruising Permit, and $15 Departure Tax each, we settled up our fuel bill and called to notify US Custom and Border Protection (CBP) of our flight. They said they had our eApis manifest on file and were cleared for arrival back into the US. I'd say we were completely cleared, fueled, and ready to go in less than 15 minutes. Awesome service! I also asked about their 100LL fuel availability and they told me it would be a very rare occurrence for them to not have fuel as you might find at other airports in the islands. That’s just another huge reason why North Eleuthera and White Crown Aviation make it a perfect stop when traveling to and from the Bahamas.



After a short run up we were back in the air and bound for Fort Pierce, FL (KFPR). Climbing through 6,000 feet, I contacted Miami Center and received our IFR clearance. We were cleared direct ANGEE intersection then direct KFPR at 8,000 feet. Pretty easy. The westerly winds we enjoyed on the way down were still there so those headwinds made for a little longer of a flight home. No worries though. We had beautiful scenery to look at and great music to enjoy while we trudged along. Our route took us just south of Great Abaco and Castaway Cay then east and north of Freeport. As we passed Castaway Cay, we could see the Disney cruise ship at the dock. Just after Freeport we descended to 6,000 feet and then were instructed to be at 4,000 feet 25 NM southeast of ANGEE. After ANGEE we were vectored around a bit for traffic, but in no time we landed at Fort Pierce and taxied to the CBP ramp to clear back into the USA.






After shutting down, we unloaded our baggage and proceeded in to the customs building. The CBP officer was very nice to work with and after checking our passports, Customs Declaration, and luggage, we were cleared and headed back to the ramp to reloaded the plane. We caught the attention of the line-guy from APP Jet Center, formerly Volo Air, and asked him to tow the plane over to there ramp and top it off with fuel. I was very surprised to see them so busy. It took us a while to get our fuel, but it gave me time to check the weather and file our flight plan for our final leg home to Jacksonville.



Forty-five minutes after arriving at KFPR, we were back in the air and headed home. I noticed the XM weather depicted an AIRMET Tango for moderate turbulence along our track once we reached the Space Coast area. Sometimes it's hit or miss if you feel the turbulence when those AIRMETs are issued and it was spot on this time. Although we probably experienced "light" turbulence by definition, the occasional moderate turbulence definitely gave us an interesting ride for about 45 minutes. I slowed to the indicated airspeed for maneuvering or turbulence, about 116 knots. Even though we maintained that indicated airspeed, our ground speed would vary between 105 and 135 knots as we encountered various up and down drafts. Anyway, the views of Florida were great and the Kennedy Space Center was especially clear as we went buy. About and hour and thirty minutes after leaving KFPR, were back on the ground at KCRG in Jacksonville.




Flight times for this trip:

Thursday, 22 April 2010: KCRG --> MYEH --> MYES = 3.9 hours
Tuesday, 27 April 2010: MYES --> MYEH --> KFPR --> KCRG = 5.3 hours

Boy that extra stop and those headwinds sure made a difference, but still way faster both times than if we had tried to do this via commercial airlines! Hmmmmmmmmm.................I wonder when we can go back?!?!?!?!?!?

Staniel Cay, Bahamas - The Flight Down

It turned out to be a perfect morning on April 22nd to depart for the Bahamas. My dad and I were at Criag Field (KCRG) by 7:30 am and with the pre-flight, loading, and run-up complete, we were wheels up just after 8:15 am. Even though it was severe clear, I filed and flew on an IACO IFR flight plan. We were cleared as filed: CRG - V51 - OMN - V3 - MLB - ZFP - Direct to North Eleuthera, Bahamas (MYEH) at 8,000 feet.

It was a little hazy and with the morning sun the views of Florida from above were a little drab. One nice thing we had was a decent tailwind that was giving us over 150+ knot ground speeds towards paradise. After Melbourne (MLB) our route took us out over the open ocean towards Freeport (ZFP), Bahamas. Miami Center called up and asked us to change altitude to either 7,000 feet or 9,000 feet. I chose lower since the ride was great, there were no clouds to try to get over, and descending 1,000 feet would give me a chance to fly a little faster. Yup, I really couldn't wait to get to paradise. Even though this leg from MLB to ZFP is 139 miles we were only out of sight of land for only 12 minutes! Not bad at all.



As we approached Grand Bahama Island and Freeport, you could see some clouds starting to build, but none that would give us any issues. After Freeport, we turned a little left and our route to North Eleuthera took us south of Grand Bahama Island, by Castaway Cay (Disney's private island), and just off the south end of Great Abaco. As we descended through 3,000 feet, we canceled IFR with Nassau Approach and began our visual approach in to the North Eleuthera International Airport. The entire flight was very smooth with only a few bumps as we crossed over land just prior to landing.



We taxied up to White Crown Aviation and were promptly helped with securing the plane, refueling, and clearing Bahamian Customs & Immigration. We only had to unload personal items and in no time our passports were stamped and cruising permit issued. The Customs & Immigration officials as well as the FBO staff we really friendly and helpful which started my dad's first visit to the Bahamas with the great impression it deserves. Now that we had successfully made it to our first stop in the Bahamas, it was time to slow down and just do what we wanted. So, we delayed our departure to Staniel for an hour while we went across the street and had some great cheeseburgers with fries and my dad got his first Kilik!



After a nice lunch, we loaded up and took off for Staniel Cay (MYES). Even though altitude is you friend in the event something happens in flight, my plane had been performing flawlessly and I really wanted to enjoy the scenery of the Bahamas on this leg a little lower. We flew across the short span of open water and down the Exuma Islands chain at 1,400 feet. It truly is a sight to behold. I never knew there were so many beautiful shades of blue! Forty minutes later we had made the straight in approach to runway 16 and landed at Staniel Cay. They had given me a frequency of 122.975 to call the yacht club to be picked up, but I didn't try it till we were on the ground and I didn't get a response. Next time I will try it from the air. No worries though, I took out my handheld marine radio and successfully got a hold of them on CH 16. In no time Jason arrived with a golf cart and took us to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, our home for the next 6 days.






We checked in at the bar with Joan and as we waited for our room we enjoyed the first of many rum punches during our stay! After a few drinks and some appetizers, we were shown to our cottage, the Orange or #3 Cottage. We quickly got our bags inside, found the chaise lounge chairs on the porch, and yup, fell asleep. After our naps, we got up and took a walk around the area in search of some fruit juices to make our own rum punch. The island is remote and a little desolate, but the people are great and we enjoyed just looking around. We tried the Pink Store to no avail and head back towards the airstrip the "main" store. It really wasn't any better stocked, but we now had some sodas as well as orange juice to go with the cranberry juice and rum we brought with us. We stopped by the church on the way back, but I never did find out the history of the bell behind it.




There are no TVs or phones in the room. The only TV is at the bar which usually has The Weather Channel or ESPN on. If you really need to be in touch with the rest of the world, wireless internet is available for a small fee. My dad had purchased a phone card and we used the pay phone to call home to let everyone know we made it fine.

We got back to the cottage and cleaned up for dinner. I had read that the food was good, but they were wrong. It was beyond great! We had done the all-inclusive plan so your dinner choice has to be in by 5:00pm everyday for dinner at 7:30pm. When dinner is ready, they ring the bell in the clubhouse. Dinner starts with a soup, first night was Conch Chowder. Next were salad and then the main course. And yes moms, I ate ALL my greens every night! We both ordered lobster and holy cow are these things huge! It was so much that my dad couldn't finish his. That's OK, I finished it for him! Dinner was completed with a choice of desert. Wow, we'll get a four course meal every night? This is rough.

With really full tummies, we went back to the cottage and sat on the porch for a while and talked before turning in for the night. My Dad started a journal for this trip and wrote his daily experiences in it every night. I always enjoyed reading it before the lights were turned out. It had been a long, great day and now it was time to sleep. I can't wait for to tomorrow to explore this place!